


Shiny Treasures

by LadyPenn (i_write_a_lot)



Category: White Collar
Genre: Elevator, F/M, Gen, rescue dog, scavenger hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-07
Updated: 2013-03-07
Packaged: 2017-12-04 14:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/711748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_write_a_lot/pseuds/LadyPenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a scavenger hunt issued by El and Peter as they’re trapped at work, Neal winds up finding trouble as usual, with Satchmo being the only person that can help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shiny Treasures

**Author's Note:**

> A tribute to dogs. ;)

“Peter.” Neal began, his tone sounding off-key in a singing kind of way. “Peter. Peter. Peter-“”

“WHAT?!” Peter snapped, loosing his temper. 

“I’m boredddd…” Neal complained, in a whining tone. “I’ve got nothing to do. I can’t go back to my apartment, because of the snow, I can’t do anything, and you won’t listen to me-”

“Because I’m trying to work-“” Peter began in an annoyed tone, and that was when El cut in.

“I have an idea,” El said thoughtfully. “Why don’t we have a scavenger hunt? Oh, don’t give me that look, Peter. I’m sure all the agents in the building know who Neal is, and won’t mind so long as he’s out of the way. Why not send a text to every agent in the building, so they’ll know what he’s up to?” 

Peter frowned, but did that. Neal was bouncing in his seat, looking excited, while Satchmo lay at El’s feet, sleeping soundly, having enjoyed his ride in the van. El quickly devised a scavenger hunt, making up obscure things to find in the building. 

“Can I look anywhere?”

“Rules,” Peter snapped out without looking up from his paperwork. “No stealing people’s things, or borrowing without asking. No going into rooms that are locked, and no using any kind of lockpick to undo said locks. No bribing, no loaning,” He informed him. 

“And you have only five hours,” El added, on inspiration. “Ready…set…go.” 

Neal snagged the list, and was instantly gone.

“Thank god,” Peter said, leaning back in his chair. “I can’t stand it when he gets that way, El. Sure, he’s like a kid…but I’m getting to be an old man,” He complained, and she smiled slyly. 

“I know, dear. That’s why I thought of the scavenger hunt.” She said, brightly. “Now, what say you to taking a break in the paperwork department, for just…oh…ten minutes?”   
He grinned.  
__

 

The list was rather annoying. Neal peered at it again, reading, 

1\. Something red  
2\. A round small object  
3\. Five paperclips  
4\. Two blank pieces of paper  
5\. A yellow square item  
6\. Something that you use to eat with  
7\. Three old pennies  
8\. A piece of metal  
9\. Something black and shiny  
10\. A type of magnet

So far, he’d gotten the list almost done. He was only missing ‘a piece of metal’. He frowned, and decided to go to the elevator, Satchmo trailing him happily. He pressed the elevator button, and went down-to the bottommost part of the building, the basement area. 

Supposedly, no one went down there anymore, and he was curious about what all was there. He wanted to impress El by bringing the items back in less than two hours, and so far it had only been fourty minutes or so. The elevator came to a stop, and he stepped out of it, making sure Satchmo was completely out as well before letting the doors closed. He was pretty sure El would be pissed if he accidentally got the dogs tail caught in the elevator doors. 

The basement door was easily located, due to the fact it was two feet in front of him. The area was tiny, damp, and more than a bit creepy. He shook his head, and opened the door, making a face at the smell in the room as it opened.

“Ruff!” Satchmo barked as the darkness seemed to pierce their area of light. Neal felt suddenly nervous, and began thinking that maybe he should just stick to upstairs. He quickly decided to look around once, and then he’d leave. 

“Stay,” He told Satchmo, who parked by the elevator, whining quietly. He went into the room, using his cell phone as a flashlight. He immediately spotted something metal.

“Ha!” He said triumphantly, and reached out to grab it. He grasped it, and then let loose a yell of pain as it burned him. It was an old radiator, and obviously still working. His hand now burned, Neal felt tears pierce his eyes at how the pain seemed to vibrate through his hand and up his arm. He took a shuddering breath, before deciding that he still had to find all of El’s ‘shiny treasures’. 

Glancing around once, he took one step forward-

And his foot sank into the hole, abruptly trapping him. He cried out in surprise, struggling to twist his foot out, and then yelled even louder when he accidentally twisted his ankle in the process. 

Falling, his foot still stuck in the hole, he was obviously not going anywhere. 

The pain becoming too much, Neal lost consciousness.   
~*~  
“It’s been an awful long time since Neal left,” Peter said frowning as he looked at his watch. El blinked, startled, out of her nap. She’d had this nice dream about her and Peter…she shook her head, trying to clear it. “You gave him five hours, right?” Peter asked her, and she thought before nodding and saying,   
“Maybe he’s had trouble with a couple of items? I mean, two were really obscure, but I figured you could use the peace and quiet for a couple of hours.” She suggested.   
Peter frowned, shook his head, and said,   
“I’m texting Diana to see if she can’t find him. I’ve got a gut feeling that…something might be wrong.” He said, and pulled his phone out of his pocket.  
~*~

Neal woke to something licking his face, and felt fur. He sneezed once, making the licking figure bark, and he immediately realized that it was Satchmo.

“Hey, boy,” Neal said, groaning. His hand was itching like mad, and it hurt…his ankle hurt even worse. “You know how to press a button, right?” Neal asked, hopefully.

The dog barked happily, obviously not hearing a word that was said. 

Neal’s phone buzzed, alerting him to a text.

He looked at his phone-one bar, and he had only a tiny bit of signal…hopefully enough to send a cry for help. 

Diana: Where are you, Caffrey? Boss is worried.

Neal smiled, glad that Peter could sense he was in trouble, even now. He winced as he texted, his hand hurting with each and every movement. 

Neal: Am stuck…

Diana: You can’t finish that scavenger hunt, can you? *rolls eyes* fine. Boss reminds you that you’ve got three and a half hours to finish it.

Neal growled, scowling at the screen. 

Neal: Please…help…

And that was when his phone died. He cursed long and loud, making Satchmo whine in anxiousness. Neal thought back to all the training that he’d learned about Satchmo from El, hoping that maybe there was something he was missing…

“We trained him to press buttons on command, too. Peter insisted, saying it would be useful.” El said, beaming at him. “I’m so glad you like Satchmo, I was afraid you’d be one of those people who didn’t like dogs.”  
“I love dogs,” Neal had protested, rubbing Satchmo’s ears. “What’s the command word to get him to press the button?”   
“Touchdown,” El told him with a smile, and Neal grinned back at her, even as Satchmo went and pressed a button to the nearest object which had one-the fridge.

“Satchmo,” Neal said, his tone gasping. “Come here,” Satchmo leaned closer to him, and Neal put the cell phone into the dogs collar. Hopefully the team would realize that something was wrong. “Good boy…now…Touchdown.”

Satchmo gave him a happy wag of his tail, and then vanished. 

Neal fell back into darkness, hoping Satchmo would bring help.  
~*~  
“So you’re saying that Neal’s fine?” Peter asked, talking to Diana on his phone. “And he’s just looking for the last thing on his list? Okay, good.” Peter said, obvious relief in his tone. 

“Great. I’ll talk to you later, thanks Diana.” He hung up. 

“I told you, sweetie.” El said with a small smile on his face. “I think he just wants to prove that he can find anything.”

“Or he just wants to impress you,” Peter grumbled, sighing heavily. 

“Boss,” Jones stuck his head into Peter’s office. “I’ve got Satchmo here, but-“”

“Oh, good, so Neal finished the list!” El said happily, rubbing Satchmo’s ear…and then frowning at seeing the cell phone in the dogs collar. She pulled it out, and stared at it, puzzled.

“What’s that? Neal’s phone?” Peter asked, staring at it. Diana came in then, bringing paperwork. 

“Here, boss, as you requested. Is that Neal’s phone? Where is he?” 

All eyes turned to Jones.

“Er…Satchmo came out of the elevator, but Neal wasn’t there.” Jones admitted, ducking his head.

“I thought…did you see him, Diana?” Peter asked sharply, obviously feeling as though something was wrong. 

“I texted him. He said…” Her eyes went wide. “He said that he was stuck, and to please help. I thought that he was talking about the scavenger hunt!” She said, looking guilty. 

“Damn.” Peter swore, kicking his desk. El winced, as Satchmo whined. “Okay…well, Satchmo knows where he is, and with the cell phone, we can follow. Here, Satchmo…fetch,”   
Peter said, after he let Satchmo sniff the phone. 

Satchmo wagged his tail, and went back to the elevator.

They all followed.  
~*~  
Neal was starting to loose consciousness. His hand and arm throbbed like mad, his hand felt toasty warm and itchy, and his ankle hurt. He hoped Satchmo was bringing help…

He suddenly heard voices, as well as the ding of the elevator. A few moments later, and there were lights shining his way. He winced as the bright light caught his eyes, his head pounding from all the pain and from being in the dark long enough that the light hurt him. 

“Neal!” 

Peter obviously spotted him, and a second later, and Neal was being carefully pulled out of the floor, and laid onto a mat of some sort. Peter held his (good) hand, and looked worried and anxious.

“Neal, you okay? Say something, come on…”

“I didn’t finish the scavenger hunt,” Neal mumbled. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, Neal.” El sounded as though she was restraining from crying and failing. “What happened?”

“I put my hand on a radiator without realizing what it was, and fell into a crack on the floor,” Neal mumbled, feeling exhausted. “Can I sleep now?”

“In just a little bit,” Peter reassured him, frowning. “Why did you come down here? You knew it was dangerous.”

“I didn’t know. I just heard rumors that it was avoided for some reason. Some said it was haunted, or something.” Neal muttered, wincing when they jostled him enough that his ankle twinged painfully. “Ow…”

“Well, getting you to the hospital is going to be fun. We’ll need an emergency helicopter, boss. It’s the only spot free in getting out of this building,” Diana’s voice came to Neal, and he looked up to see her looking steadily back at him. “Sorry for not realizing immediately what was wrong, Caffrey. I thought you were talking about the scavenger hunt.”

“S’lay,” He meant to say ‘it was okay’ but he was starting to become rather sleepy. Enough so that Peter said,

“Go ahead and sleep, Neal…” 

The last thing he heard was Peter saying in a proud tone,

“Good job, Satchmo. Good boy…”

He fell asleep, and dreamed of getting himself a dog of his own, so that Satchmo would have someone to play with.  
~*~  
THE END!


End file.
